Well Done
by StegeKay
Summary: A random Valentine's Day story. Gourry tries to do something nice for Lina, but Zelgadis and Amelia are having a hard time believing it.


All eyes were focused on the piece of well done steak sitting on the plate. No one said a word for a few moments, but it was clear that the seemingly forgotten food was causing some worry. It was finally Amelia who leaned forward, wide blue eyes filled with concern, "Um, Mister Gourry," She began quietly, her gaze shifting slowly from the plate of food to the blond haired young man it belonged to. "You haven't touched your breakfast. Is something wrong? Are you sick?"

Gourry Gabriev returned the young girl's concern with a blank look, but after a moment a genuine wide smile formed on his face. "Nah, I'm fine," He replied with a wave of his hand.

"Are you sure?" This time Zelgadis, the typically stoic chimera seated next to Amelia spoke up, arching an eyebrow. "I've known you for a while now, and I can't say I've ever seen you like...this."

Amelia stood up, "Does the food taste bad?" She inquired, a little more unease to her voice now. "I bet we can get the cook to bring us something else if you don't like it."

"Nah," Gourry hardly seemed bothered by the worried attention his two companions were paying him. "I'm sure it tastes fine."

There was another awkward, long pause, and Amelia exchanged looks with Zelgadis. "Then why aren't you eating it?" The chimera asked.

The young man gave a slight shrug, "I'm saving it for Lina."

Another pause. Zelgadis even let out a short chuckle, "That won't even come close to filling her up. She'll just order ten more. What's so special about saving one?"

Gourry responded with an uneasy laugh, "Yeah, I know," He kept that same smile on his face. "But today's an important day, you know. Today is the anniversary of the day I met Lina."

As Amelia let out a girlish squeal, Zelgadis rolled his eyes, "I still don't get what you're doing, Gourry. Not to mention that steak is getting cold."

"Oh," Gourry glanced at the plate quickly, "I just wanted to do something nice for Lina, I guess," He lifted a knife, prodded the meat once, and then carefully placed the utensil back on the table. "It's still okay," He muttered almost as an afterthought.

Zelgadis raised a brow, "Wait a minute. How does someone like you, who can barely remember names recall the anniversary of when you first met Lina?"

"That," Amelia abruptly hopped to her feet, interrupting Zelgadis and slamming her hands against the table so hard that it caught the attention of everyone else in the tavern, "Mr. Gourry, is the SWEETEST thing I have ever heard of! What a great symbolic gesture of TRUE friendship! And how romantic!" The dark haired girl's eyes looked as though they were filling with tears.

"Oh, come on," Zelgadis scoffed. "In what world is saving a piece of leathery meat for an ungrateful girl a gesture of anything romantic?"

Amelia frowned at the chimera and turned to face him, placing her hands on her hips. "Mr. Zelgadis, how can you be so cold? Tell me, what is a greater symbol of friendship than sharing a meal? It means a close, trusting relationship that," She paused for a moment, realizing Zelgadis was no longer listening. "H-hey, don't ignore me! That's mean!"

"I've lost interest," Zelgadis muttered in reply. Under his breath he quickly added, "And I've almost lost my breakfast..."

Luckily for the chimera, Amelia's attention was elsewhere by the time he added that last part. She spotted a familiar red haired girl heading down the steps and bolted toward her with an excited cry of, "Miss Lina!"

Not quite prepared for the sudden approach, the tired Lina Inverse nearly lost her balance when Amelia abruptly latched onto her arm. "Amelia," She flung out her other arm to catch the banister before the dark haired girl could knock her to the ground. "What's got you so perky this morning?"

Apparently Amelia wasn't going to give an answer, but she did all but drag Lina to their table, and practically flung her into the seat next to Gourry before she returned to her own chair.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Lina's suspicious gaze moved slowly from Amelia, to the now very disinterested Zelgadis, and finally to Gourry, as he pushed his plate in front of her.

Gourry beamed, "Here ya go, Lina," He said cheerfully. "I saved you some breakfast!"

Lina blinked at the plate set in front of her, and then looked back to Gourry, confused, "Uh, thanks Gourry, but usually I order my own food." She tentatively lifted a fork and prodded the meat. Quickly she decided it was still edible.

"I wanted to do something special, I guess," The young man admitted with a cheesy grin. "After all today's the anniversary of the day I met you."

There was a short pause. Lina held her fork just over the piece of meat for a few seconds, a thoughtful look on her face. "Oh yeah," She said, the slightest hint of emotion in her voice. "I guess it is, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Gourry nodded eagerly. "Since we've been traveling so much lately I didn't really have time to get you a real present or anything, so I thought I'd just save you my breakfast!"

"At least he knows you'll eat it," Zelgadis muttered from his place across the table. His observation mercifully went unnoticed by the others.

Lina didn't seem to know how to respond at first, though her cheeks immediately became almost as red as her hair. "Oh," She finally managed, suddenly fixing her eyes on the plate and nowhere else. "That's really nice of you," She trailed off at the end, but the others heard a barely uttered, "Thanks."

"What about you, Miss Lina?" Amelia spoke up after a few seconds. "Shouldn't you do something nice for Mr. Gourry?"

"Huh?" Lina frowned for a moment as her eyes moved from Amelia to Gourry and back. Finally she shrugged and smiled. "Guess at the very least I can go through this meal without calling you 'Jellyfish Brains,'" She said with a grin.

"Aw, Miss Lina..." Amelia looked hurt. "Look what Mr. Gourry did for you! He skipped breakfast to save that for you!"

Lina blinked, "Wasn't there any more?" Then she sighed and her cheeks turned that bright red once again. "Okay...I guess I could go all day and be nice..."

Amelia gave another girlish squeal at that, "That's better!" Suddenly she was on her feet again. She reached a hand into the pouch tied to her hip and retrieved a palm sized adornment of the royal seal of her hometown Seiruun. "Hey, Mr. waiter!" She cried to the closest employee. "Let these two order whatever they'd like! The royal family of Seiruun will pay for it!"

"Amelia," Zelgadis began bluntly, "Don't you think your father might get a little upset with you doing that?"

"Oh, he won't mind!" The dark haired girl said. "Not for a special occasion like this!" Suddenly she reached out and grabbed Zelgadis by the wrist, still grinning. "Come on. We can go elsewhere and let Miss Lina and Mr. Gourry enjoy their breakfast alone."

Before Zelgadis could even try to protest, Amelia all but dragged him out of the tavern, leaving Lina and Gourry alone.

The two exchanged looks and finally Lina smiled, and turned her attention to the nearby waiter. "Ten of your breakfast specials, please," She said with a grin. "And ten more for this guy!" She pointed at Gourry.

The startled waiter looked shocked, but at last he nodded and rushed off to the kitchen. Lina, looking pleased with herself, leaned back in her chair.

"So you told them, huh?"

Gourry nodded, "Yep."

"They would have found out sooner or later anyway," Lina said with a slight shrug.

"I guess so," Gourry said. "You were right though, Lina, just because Amelia thought it was an important day, she offered to pay for our food."

A wicked little smirk formed on Lina's face as she prodded the plate in front of her, "Amelia's easy to read. Spring something that sounds romantic on her and she falls apart. Not to mention, voila, now we don't have to pay the bill this time around."

Gourry nodded as his eyes shifted to the plate in front of Lina. "Are you gonna eat that?" He questioned her, suddenly very serious.

"What?" Lina looked insulted, "Of course I'm gonna eat it! You GAVE it to me!"

"But, that was because you told me to!" The young man protested. "Part of getting Amelia to pay for the food, that's what you said! I thought at the very least you could share some of it while we wait for the rest of the food!"

"No way!" Lina quickly scooped up the plate before Gourry could get a hand on it. A loud squabble erupted between the pair, drawing more eyes than Amelia had. Despite Gourry's best efforts, Lina ended up with most of the food. "You can't just take a gift back you know. It's rude."

"It wasn't really a gift!" Gourry protested, hurt. "I was acting! You told me to!"

"Maybe order more food next time then," Lina replied smugly.

Sighing, Gourry sank in his chair, "This is a tough business," He muttered. After a few seconds he looked over at the girl again. "He Lina..."

"Yeah?"

"When IS our 'anniversary' anyway?"

After a long moment Lina shrugged, "Heck if I know," She said. "But you wanna try it again in a couple months?"


End file.
